ESPN FC's Paul Mariner and Mark Donaldson preview West Ham's midweek fixture against Chelsea at Upton Park.
It could all have been so different. Chelsea could have been entering their match with West Ham United on Wednesday night with the weight of the world on their shoulders. Had a butterfly on the other side of the world flapped its wings to an alternative beat on Sunday then maybe Tottenham would have prevailed in the Capital One Cup final and Manchester City might have turned their defeat to Liverpool into a victory. Chelsea could have found themselves sitting second in the Premier League by the time...

The ESPN FC team explain how Liverpool were able to exploit Manchester City's weaknesses on Sunday and agree Manuel Pellegrini's days as City manager may be numbered.
After a week where Manchester City were convincingly defeated by both Barcelona and Liverpool, with 2-1 losses flattering the English champions on both occasions, manager Manuel Pellegrini's tactics inevitably came under fire.
For both contests, his 4-4-2 formation was outplayed in midfield and exposed between the lines, leading to many questions about whether the Chilean has the tactical nous necessary to get results against the biggest sides.
The 4-4-2 itself isn't necessarily a problem, although...

Lyon head coach Hubert Fournier believes that his title-chasing side missed a big opportunity to put distance between themselves and second-placed PSG as they fell 2-1 to Lille in Ligue 1.
"After you," "no, you first," "no, you go, really," "no, no, please, I insist."
For the past three weeks, Ligue 1 has become the most courteous league in Europe. Three teams are just waltzing around the top of the table with nobody seeming to want to grab it and win it. The table is neatly poised: Lyon (54 points), PSG (53 points) and Marseille (50 points) just keep offering lifelines and gifting each other the opportunity to hang around.
With just four points between the top three teams in...

ESPN FC's Taylor Twellman discusses the attributes of both Orlando City SC and NYCFC and what sets the two Major League Soccer sides apart.
In 2015, Major League Soccer welcomes two new franchises: New York City FC and Orlando City SC. Jason Davis outlines everything you need to know about OCSC.
Star power
Orlando's list of stars doesn't begin and end with Kaka, but the former world player of the year is such a massive figure in the new club's lineup that it would be easy to focus solely on the Brazilian attacker.
Kaka arrives fresh from a loan at Sao Paulo after leaving AC Milan, where a second stint at the San Siro was marked by...

Africa Cup of Nations hosts Equatorial Guinea ended their tournament on a low note as they lost the third-place playoff 4-2 on penalties after drawing 0-0 with Democratic Republic of Congo on Saturday.